Booking your Rome vacation rental apartment in the elegant Spanish Steps area will make your stay in Rome very pleasant: the Spanish Steps district is indeed the perfect spot for those who want to combine shopping and sightseeing!

For shopping you can go to Piazza di Spagna where you can find luxury boutiques like Valentino, Dolce e Gabbana, Missoni, Sergio Rossi, Genny, Rocco Barocco and Krizia or... into the elegant shopping streets nearby like the famous Via Dei Condotti, Via Frattina, Via Borgognona, Via delle Carrozze with their luxurious boutiques and, Via Del Babuino with its antique shops (Alberto Di Castro), concept stores (TAD) and glam shops (Gente).

For sightseeing from these Rome apartments you are ony moments away from the wonderful "dolce vita" temple - the Trevi Fountain - as well as from the Pantheon and the beautiful streets leading over to Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori.

At two minute walk to the very central Spanish Steps piazza you'll find yourself at most of the noteworthy Via dei Greci, one of the many interesting streets in the Spanish Steps area of Rome. Closed to traffic, it houses Saint Anastasious Greek Catholic church and college, the world-famous national academy of music of Santa Cecilia, and the spot where English-speaking ex-patriots meet, the Lion Bookshop.

Piazza di Spagna is today very crowded during the summer months, with tourists just sitting, chatting, and taking a rest from visiting the elegant shops that litter the area. Piazza di Spagna is filled with flower vendors, jewelry dealers, tourists and photographers snapping pictures of visitors. Remember not to elect the place for a picnic lunch as the Italian authorities have banned visitors from eating whilst sitting on the steps!

The Spanish Steps are magnificent beginning of May due to the world-famous flower show, when the steps are covered with blossommed azaleas and each July in occasion of evening fashion show, the steps being used as a catwalk. Every 8 December, the city's firemen, in the presence of the Pope, pay hommage to the Virgin by placing a floral wreath on the statue.

The piazza has always being the meeting places for travellers coming from all over the world. The international nature is even stressed by the presence of the diplomatic offices of both France and Spain, which of course, influenced the name of the piazza itself. It is now an international meeting point. The fountain known as the 'Barcaccia' (boat) was commissioned by Urbano Barberini to commemorate the alliance made with the King of France, whose coat of arms can be seen on Trinita' dei Monti.